Professor
Renee Jourdenais joined the Institute’s TESOL/TFL faculty in 1998. She served as Program Chair of the TESOL/TFL program for almost a decade and then as Dean of the Graduate School of Translation, Interpretation and Language Education, overseeing the Institute’s programs in TESOL/TFL; Translation, Interpretation, and Localization; Language and Intercultural Studies; and Language and Professional Programs. An applied linguist, her areas of specialty include language teacher education, assessment, research, curriculum design, and second language acquisition and use. She has consulted on curriculum development and assessment around the world in the areas of language teaching, translation, and interpretation.
She has taught a wide range of courses including language, linguistics, pedagogy, assessment and research classes.
EDUC 8510 Upcoming
Educational Research MethodsCourse Description
Educational Research Methods is focused on the principles of research for language teaching and learning. The course provides you with approaches to become informed and critical users of research, and capable and humble researchers who can apply research-related concepts and practices to your professional goals and needs.
Terms Taught
EDUC 8540 Upcoming
Language AssessmentCourse Description
Considers issues in language assessment including reliability, validity, test bias, and authenticity. Examines differences and similarities among placement, proficiency, achievement, aptitude, and performance testing. Explores alternative evaluation procedures. Prepares students to evaluate tests and to develop original language tests. Prerequisites: Language Analysis and Educational Research Methods.
Terms Taught
EDUC 8670 Current Upcoming
Practicum CapstoneCourse Description
The Practicum Capstone combines reflective practice and professional development in preparing students for a career in language education. Participants integrate theory, research, and conceptual foundations into a coherent and well-informed approach to planning and executing lessons. They also incorporate these three components when developing and deploying instructional materials and assessment instruments. Activities and products prepare participants for entering the language teaching professional and performing admirably therein.
Practicum Capstone Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs):
Articulate their approach to language learning and teaching with explicit reference to sound pedagogical principles
Demonstrate their expert knowledge of language, learning, and teaching
Select appropriate materials for effective language instruction
Plan productive instructional units and lessons to maximize second language learning in all skill areas
Assess student learning meaningfully using a range of formative and summative tools
Reflect critically on their teaching practice in order to build on their strengths and address areas for improvement
Terms Taught
ICCO 8514 Upcoming
IntroToInterculturalCompetenceCourse Description
Introduction to Intercultural Competence
Introduction to Intercultural Competence provides an overview of theories and approaches related to communicating within and across different cultural communities. The course addresses the complexity behind the concept of “culture” and guides students through greater awareness of their own culture(s) as they prepare to engage successfully with others. Students will examine and critically analyze various frameworks related to the development, training and assessment of intercultural competence and consider how identity and power impact both intra- and intercultural communication.
Terms Taught
ICCO 8562
ICC AssessmentCourse Description
Purpose of course: ICC Assessment presents future professionals (international educators, administrators, advisors, teachers, and more) with both the theory behind and the practical application of intercultural assessment. This course begins by defining intercultural assessment and identifying a wide range of intercultural assessment instruments; next, it focuses on understanding specific purposes of assessment instruments as well as selecting appropriate assessment instruments; and then developing a needs analysis of a particular group for the purpose of implementing the assessment/s; and finally evaluating the assessment process and outcomes.
Learning outcomes: Students will develop an understanding of the art, science, and implementation of intercultural assessment tools in order to design, develop, and administer intercultural assessments to a variety of constituents.
At the end of this course, students will be able to:
Understand the different intercultural assessment tools available and distinguish the purposes (as well as pros/cons) of each based upon the audience
Create a needs assessment of a specific target group
Select the appropriate assessment tools needed for specific audiences.
Prepare a guided learning experience through the use of an intercultural assessment/s
Evaluate the success of the target group’s learning outcomes
Terms Taught
LING 8670 Current Upcoming
Applied Linguistics CapstoneCourse Description
The Applied Linguistics Capstone is designed to help TESOL/TFL students refine their skills as applied linguistics professionals. Course participants will develop either a curriculum project, a, empirical research report, or an assessment tool, using original data that they have collected and analyzed. The course also aims to induce students to reflect on their previous coursework, as well as explore and clarify their future plans for careers as language teaching professionals.
Applied Linguistics Capstone Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs):
Understand processes of inquiry relevant to language education
Plan research activities for designing curriculum and language instruction, assessment, or empirical investigation
Execute data collection procedures
Analyze data using appropriate quantitative and qualitative methods
Synthesize and report findings clearly, convincingly, and creatively for a professional audience
Apply research skills in educational settings
Terms Taught
MIIS 8510 Upcoming
Educational Research MethodsCourse Description
Educational Research Methods
Introduces social science research design, descriptive and analytic procedures, basic statistics, and their application to research on language learning and teaching. The dates of this course are SEPTEMBER 6 through DECEMBER 16. Registering for this course signals your interest in taking the course. You will be notified via email on August 21 whether you can officially enroll in the course.
Terms Taught
MIIS 8514
Intro to SociolinguisticsCourse Description
Intro to Sociolinguistics
Introduces the interplay between language and society. Discusses regional and social dialects as well as the role of linguistic attitudes and language variation in language learning and teaching. The dates of this course are AUGUST 24 through DECEMBER 11. Registering for this course signals your interest in taking the course. You will be notified via email on August 21 whether you can officially enroll in the course. . The dates of this course are AUGUST 24 through DECEMBER 11. Registering for this course signals your interest in taking the course. You will be notified via email on August 21 whether you can officially enroll in the course.
Terms Taught
MIIS 8518
Principls/Practcs LangTchng IICourse Description
Principles & Practices of Language Teaching II
Along with Principles and Practices 1, this course provides students with a foundational pedagogical training in preparation for careers in foreign/second language teaching. Topics covered include essentials of lesson planning, authentic texts use, formative assessment, differentiation, and high leverage teaching practices. Students will engage in a variety of real-world performance tasks, such as creating lesson plans and performing microteaching. Students will also deepen their understanding of course concepts by conducting classroom observations. The dates of this course are JANUARY 25 through MAY 14. Registering for this course signals your interest in taking the course. (MIIS 8509)
Terms Taught
TIAG 8505
Foundations in InterpretationCourse Description
Introduction to Interpretation
This multilingual course introduces students to the basic theories and practices of interpretation in general, and consecutive interpretation in particular. It lays a foundation for the development of professional skills in consecutive interpretation, emphasizing the ability to understand and analyze a message in the source language (SL) and convey it in the target language (TL) in a straightforward and clear manner. Students will hone their public-speaking skills by developing and delivering speeches, and will practice listening to and interpreting the content of passages of increasing length and difficulty as they develop the ability to identify, analyze, and paraphrase the meaning of an oral source text and establish logical relations between its components. Content is interpreted on topics from daily life, current events and the media, and general areas of personal interest to students.
Activities will include discussions and readings to build related knowledge, and practical hands-on exercises to build interpretation skills and to explore the purposes of interpretation and decisions made when approaching an interpretation assignment, including protocol, context, speaker intention, audience needs, public speaking, delivery, rhetorical style, deverbalization, equivalency, definitions of accuracy and faithful conveyance of the message, and the use of tools and resources to support interpretation.
Course assignments include readings and research on class topics, presentations, practice, graded exercises, and peer and self-assessment. The frequency, nature, and structure of course assignments and examinations are at the discretion of the instructor(s) of record.
This course is complementary to language-specific Introduction to Interpretation courses 8501 and 8502.
Terms Taught
TIAG 8515
Foundations in TranslationCourse Description
Introduction to Translation
This course introduces students to the basic theories and practices of written and sight translation. Discussions and activities will explore the purposes of translation and decisions made when deciding how to best approach a translation assignment, including issues of text equivalency, source and target text intention, directionality, language pairs, translation speed, revision processes, and the use of translation tools and resources.
Terms Taught
TIAG 8534
Language Mediators and ICCCourse Description
Language Mediators and ICC provides an overview of the ways in which culture, power and identity, interact with translation and interpreting activities. The course explores the concept of culture as it is reflected both in and by intercultural interactions and considers the ways in which translating and interpreting practices can both draw cultures together and/or mark differences between them. We will explore issues of power and identity and see how they both frame and underlie interpreting and translation practices, ranging from what gets translated/interpreted, to the very language chosen to do so, and to the strategies employed by translators and interpreters, which are anything but “neutral.” Through self- and critical reflection, students will better recognize and understand the factors that contribute to intercultural communication in these settings and be better able to participate thoughtfully and successfully in multilingual interactions.
Terms Taught
Renee has always felt that languages are meant to be “used.” In that light, her work has focused heavily on the training of languages for practical purposes, and the Institute has been the perfect place to explore the intersection of language learning and language use in varied professional careers. Her research on cognition has examined how people come to focus on particular aspects of language as they learn language. Her explorations in pedagogy have focused on the use of relevant content to teach languages. Her work in assessment has been dedicated to developing appropriate forms of assessment for particular purposes of language use. She is particularly passionate about making sure that language learners (and language teachers!) are aware of the wide range of career options for language learners and that the learners are ready to put their languages to use in the fields that they’re passionate about!
Ph.D., Applied Linguistics, Georgetown University
M.A., French Literature, University of Florida
TESOL Certificate, University of Florida
B.A., French, Tufts University
Professor Jourdenais has been teaching at the Institute since 1998.
Mikkelson, H. & Jourdenais, R. (Eds.). (2015) Handbook of Interpreting. Oxon/NY: Routledge.
Jourdenais, R. (2009) Language Teacher Supervision. In M. Long & C. Doughty (Eds.). Handbook of Second and Foreign Language Teaching. Blackwell.
Cummings, M. & Jourdenais, R. (2005). Virtual role reversal for teacher trainers online. PacCALL Journal, 1, 94-114.
Jourdenais, R. & Springer, S (Eds.). (2005). Content, tasks and projects in the language classroom: 2004 conference proceedings. Monterey, CA: Monterey Institute of International Studies.
Jourdenais, R., & Shaw, P. (2005). Dimensions of content-based instruction in second language education. In R. Jourdenais, & S. Springer (Eds.). Content, tasks and projects in the language classroom: 2004 conference proceedings (pp. 1-12). Monterey, CA: Monterey Institute of International Studies.
Jourdenais, R. (2001). Cognition, instruction, and protocol analysis. In P. Robinson (Ed.) Cognition and second language learning, (pp. 354-375). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Jourdenais, R., Ota, M., Stauffer, S., Boyson, B., and Doughty, C. (1995). Does textual enhancement promote noticing? A think-aloud protocol analysis. In R. Schmidt (Ed.), Attention and awareness in foreign language learning and teaching, Honolulu: National Foreign Language Resource Center.
| by Emily Cipriani
From surrealist poetry translations to curriculum strategies for language teachers, see what members of the Institute community have recently published.
| by Eva Gudbergsdottir
The U.S. Department of State recognized the Middlebury Institute of International Studies with the English Language Fellow Top Producing Institution Award on the 50th Anniversary of the program.
